Critical Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical Summary - Essay Example At this juncture it is interesting to take into account of what happened in Vancouver from the end of the nineteenth century to the earlier part of the twentieth century. The author illustrates how the common people came together with their own efforts to turn the mentioned city into a picturesque landscape. Furthermore the author has also highlighted that the middle class and the wealthier people was the pivotal force beyond this mammoth success. The paper comprises of three interrelated objectives and presents them in sequential manner. Each objective strengthens the other and eventually shapes into a coherent well thought paper. The way the paper starts with a narrow base then considers a broader aspect and then again pinpoint its focus deserves special attention. The primary objective of the concerned paper is to consider and analyse â€Å"specific influential decisions made by individuals or groups with regard to urban development† (Daunais, 1) that eventually led to the expansion of the legislation concerning plantation of the trees and boosted the effort for the same. The secondary objective of the paper is to relate the practise of the plantation followed in Vancouver within the previously mentioned time frame â€Å"to a broader cultural, professional, social and economic context† (Daunais, 1). To be precise the concerned paper leads an endeavour to illustrate â€Å"the dominant white English-speaking p opulation of Vancouver played a crucial role in developing Vancouver’s street tree programme from 1896 to 1925† (Daunais, 1). Besides the concerned paper also illustrates that even when the ambience is not particularly in favour, collective action on behalf of a few can bring significant changes without any external help. The author takes up an urban historical approach to fulfil her objectives. At the beginning the author gives a bird’s eye view of the history of street tree plantation, the evolution of

International Business Law and its Environment Essay

International Business Law and its Environment - Essay Example These bribery fuelled projects have gained Siemens more than $1.1 billion in revenue (Schaffer, Earle and Augusti). In the period between March 2001 and September 2007, about $1.4 billion in about 4,283 payments were shelled out to bribe government officials in exchange for lucrative business deals in different countries which also include high-ranking Iraqi officials who got kickbacks at the expense of the UN. Millions of dollars were also spent to pay up third parties that implicated embezzlement. It was found that there is an atmosphere of tolerance and even the company’s cultural acceptance of the practice in all levels of the corporation. There has been a systematic implementation of this scheme that engaged the members of the organization (ibid). There was a failure by the internal safeguards of Siemens to clean up their business adequately in time prior to the case filed by the SEC to their disadvantage. The main issue encompasses the acts of the company in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) under the United States federal law which punishes bribery of foreign officials. This is in relation to the thrust of the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate businesses under its jurisdiction. Specifically, the provisions of Sections 30A, 13(b)(2)(A), and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act were violated (ibid). The court found in favour of the SEC and granted the highest settlement in this particular area where Siemens has offered $1.6 billion in payment for the fines and disgorgement provided under the law. Out of which, $350 million will go to the SEC in disgorgement, $450 million in criminal fine to the Department of Justice, about $569 million as fine to Germany’s Office of the Prosecutor General in Munich. This is apart from the approximately $285 million Siemens has already paid in 2007 to the Prosecutor previously mentioned (ibid). In the end, the SEC and the State together with the German government on this case through an amicable settlement by the plaintiff and defendant.

Developing Customer Relations Essay Example for Free

Developing Customer Relations Essay 1.0 Introduction Customer service is the provision of service to customer before during and after a purchase also its the ability of an organisation to recognise and consistently meet its customers need Employees may find them self in a situation that they sold a product and the customer is been arrogant saying it is faulty they need to stay calm 2.0 Providing Customer Service A new employee can provide good customer service by been well presented on their first day and wearing their uniform appropriately greeting the customer politely. 3.0 Presentation Skills In this section I am going to say why presentation skills are important to customer service Skill Why it is important As this is merit grade work, I need to expand each box. You need at least three points for each on why this is important Examples from business You need a couple of examples from businesses in each box Personal presentation e.g. personal hygiene, uniform/ dress, hair, makeup jewellery The way an employee presents himself identifies who they are. It is important because your presentation of your self and the business is the customer first opinion if they business is dirty then the customer wouldnt come there again Customers in Tesco Sainsburys wear uniform to make them look smart and they have to wear the uniform properly for example an employee might wear his uniform but not wear it smartly like not tucking in his shirt in companies like B Q the employees dress to stand out by wearing bright orange Also in the police force it is required to wear uniform Body language e.g. posture, facial expression, smiling, gestures, eye contact Body language has an impact on the customers perception of how friendly the staffs are. The body language of an employee is important because it shows how the employee feels about the customer and how approachable they are If a customer ask a staff in a company like Primark where is the T shirts and they are frowning it means the staff there is unfriendly In JD Sports if it is empty and there are no customers in there and the employees have a conversation then a customer comes in and has a query, the employee might frown when he comes in because he is interrupting his conversation Presentation of work area and equipment The presentation of the work area shows how prepared the staff are and how good the environment, it is important because it shows how prepared they are to start business and also the presentation shows how hygienic they are If in McDonalds the tables are dirty it will put off customers and they wouldnt eat in there Greeting Customers, Courtesy, Confidence, Interest, Thoughtfulness It is important because it shows that the employee cares that a customer is there and it makes the customer feel welcome If you greet a customer every time they come in to your business they would attract more customers to your business by telling them how polite employees in the business are Responding to different customer behaviour, Tact, Efficiency It is important to adapt to different customers and situation because all customers arent the same and they will have different attitude towards the employee/ business If a customer complains about how bad service is and you respond to them quickly it would show that youre sorry Of voice, pitch, language e.g. technical language, use of slang How you communicate to customer is important because all customers are usually different e.g. you talk to old people different from teenagers When you talk to an old lady you talk slowly so they can hear you properly but when you are talking to teenager you can use some slangs Also in a company like Pc World if someone was about to buy a computer you would speak to them in technical language e.g. the computer has 512mb ram e.t.c and if the customer doesnt understand it you explain to them Listening, body language, appropriateness to customer situation Your listening skills to a customer is important because if you dont listen to them while you are talking to feels rude and employee should be able to adapt to different situations because there are different kinds of customers If a customer asks a question like where is the toilet and you keep on telling them to repeat it. They wouldnt come back again to the business. Also there might be 4.0 Interpersonal Skills In this section I am going to say why interpersonal skills are important to customer service. Interpersonal Skills relate to the way you behave when you are dealing with other people and they are important because it makes communication clear. Attitudes, Behaviour, First impression are aspects of interpersonal skills The attitude of a staff to customer the first time they come in matter because that is their first impression and thats what they will tell other people about the business In a Supermarket if a customer asks where an item and the employee replies go away is to the customer it will put them off and they wouldnt come back Behaviour this is closely linked to attitude because this influences what you do and why you do it. A friendly person will normally behave in a cheerful way also if u enjoys working with people you will normally behave in a courteous and thoughtful way 5.0 Communication Skills In this section I am going to talk about communication skills Communication Skills are important to customer service. It is crucial that information is clear and accurate. In customer service employees must be able to explain companys policies to customers and answer question about product and service. Tone, Pace, Pitch of voice, Slang and Listening are aspects of communication skills Tone is difference between the way you talk to a supervisor and your friend. Tone is how informal or formal you are and the tone of your voice Slang includes word used informally such as waste of space, chill. None should be used in business when talking to an external customer. Pace relates to the speed at which you speak and should be varied depending on your audience. Listening skills are invaluable in business particularly in the following situations e.g. when a customer is telling you about his or her needs or preferences, when you are been given information to give to someone. Pitch of voice relates to how you sound. A low pitched voice is deep and gruff, a high pitched voice easily sound shrill. Varying your pitch makes you sound more interesting and enables you to hold people attention better if you speak in a monotone 6.0 Customer Service Situations I am going to explain which skills are important in the following situation face to face, on the telephone, email, urgent situations, and difficult situations; either it is Interpersonal Skills, Presentation Skills, Communication Skills. Face to Face: I assume communication skills are the most essential skills when an employee is facing a problem face to face because although your presentation and interpersonal skills is important the employee is facing them and the way he communicates matter. The most important communication skills is their listening skills because it will show how effective they are to deal with the problem Telephone: I assume communication skills are the most essential skills when an employee if dealing with a problem on the phone because

Career and Gender Discrimination in Bahrain | Case Study

Career and Gender Discrimination in Bahrain | Case Study Ellen Moore (A) Living and working in Bahrain Case summary The case describes the working life and career decision of Ellen Moore, an American expatriate in Bahrain in the 1980s. Ellen is an outstanding and capable person both in terms of academic and professional background. Right after graduation with an MBA degree, she followed her husband to work as a financial specialist in Bahrain. Bahrain is a country situated in the Persian Gulf and its modernization and economy are strongly associated with the oil industry. Expatriates have been playing an important role in bringing expertise and dynamics to its under-developed areas. Ellen came to Bahrain to work as manager because of her vast work experience, she really like the opportunity to be a teacher and work with other people, although some working style, professional capability, religion were different from her home country, she believed that the ability to handle different situation would be an important international experience for her. After two years hard working, Ellen was offered with two senior management options of career promotion, one in accounts control and another in customer service. She wanted to choose the accounts control position but was faced with an explicit discriminatory practice by her manager for being a woman. He said that because the position she chose would involve visiting Saudi Arabia and negotiating with men, as a female she would not be able to fulfill this position. So there are four possible solutions that Allen could choose: 1. Take the customer position that she does not like 2. Fight back 3. Remain her current position 4. Leave the company. 1. The Case core issues a) Gender discrimination in the Bahraini society reflected in the organisational culture After two years of successful work, Ellen was offered two new positions in different areas. After carefully evaluate the two positions, she decided to take the Accounts Control position. When meeting with the General Manager, she was told that the offer had been reconsidered and this position was not available for her anymore. The reasons were: As a woman, she would be subject to discriminatory practices in Saudi Arabia and would experience difficulty travelling alone there as it is one of the job requirements She would also have difficulty in obtaining entry visas Customers would not accept to negotiate with a woman In case of hostile outbreak, she could be in danger. b) International migration of qualified workforce In 1975 offshore banking began in Bahrain. Since the country did not have experts to develop this industry, expatriates from around the world, particularly from Western Europe and North America, were invited to conduct business in Bahrain; Expatriates who lived under residence permits gained on the basis of recruitment for a specialist position that could not be filled by a qualified and available Bahraini citizen; Bahrain became a multicultural country. Expatriates would interact not only with Arabic nationals, but also with managers from others parts of the world, and with workers from developing countries; No formal training, especially in the difference among management practices, was provided in order to better adapt expatriates to new country/culture. c) Managing in a different culture Several aspects of the Middle Eastern culture had tremendous impact on the way of doing business, especially for the western firms which located in Bahrain: What Western managers considered to be proof of an argument or factual evidence could be flatly denied by a Bahraini: if something was not believed, it did not exist. It seemed that the concept of time differed between Middle Eastern and Western cultures. Schedules and deadlines, while sacred to Western managers, commanded little respect from Bahraini employees. Islamic religion: praying five times a day and Ramadan working hours. There is no separation of church, state and judiciary. Attitude towards women: all women could work outside the home, with hours restricted both by convention and by the labour laws. They could only work only after got their husbands, fathers, or brothers permission, and could not take potential employment away from men. Work outside the home was additional to duties performed inside the home. Most women who worked held secretarial or clerk positions; very few worked in management. The truth to a Bahraini employee was subject to an Arab interpretation, which was formed over hundreds of years of cultural evolution. 2. Possible solutions that Ellen faced a) Take the Customer Services position: †¢ Strength: By accepting the Customer Service position, she is taking her career to a new level. With new challenges to face, more responsibilities to meet and huge number of employees to manage which she has proven herself to have the skills and qualifications in this new role. It could be an option to take her career further and even could be a role model for women in this country that want to be in management position. †¢ Weakness: By accepting this position, she is sending the message that she is accepting the discrimination that she experienced. She would be compromising her values, which is probably painful for her as an educated American woman, because her true personality has been violated. b) Fight Back: †¢ Strength: Fighting back can help Ellen remain her true personality. By seeking help from Senior Vice-president, Ellen may persuade the SVP to stand by her side, get the position that she dreamed of. Another way to do it is to try her chances in the Bahraini Labor Tribunals, if she wins the case in the tribunal, it will help her change the women unequal rights in the company or even to be a role model for women in the Bahraini society. †¢ Weakness: Stepping over the general manager and reaching the Senior Vice-President to solve the issue might affect her relationship with the general manager who trusted her and nominated her for senior management position. This may result in serious conflicts with the organization management and risk Ellens job. c) Stay in her current position: †¢ Strength: The option of keeping the current position could be a safe choice for Ellen to maintain good relationship with her manager, keep her own values; and also not give in to the general managers prejudices. Meanwhile, she could start considering other career options. †¢ Weakness: Gender discrimination in public life and workplace is a noticeable issue in Bahrain (Asian Center for Human Rights 2007), thus the opportunity for promotion could be reduced in the future if Allen refused this promotion. Also, according to Metcalfe (2007), in Arab nations where women are expected to resign from their jobs when they are married; the training and professional academic qualifications are prioritized for men. Additionally, by not accepting the goodwill from the general manager, Ellen could be risking her relationship with him. d) Leave the company: †¢ Strength: According to Hofstede cultural dimensions (1993), Ellen is a person with high Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) who aspires for professionalism and punctuality. Bahrain Society, on the other hand, has a low UA featured in greater tolerance in timing. The big differences in Uncertainty Avoidance and Power Distance traits between Ellens and Bahrain society might hinder Ellens ability to develop her career in the country. Moreover, the reasons for Ellen to prefer the Account Control position are to gain international experience, better pay and challenging opportunities and these can be found in other job positions. †¢ Weakness: In Bahrain, it is required to obtain a permission letter from current employer in order to seek or move to work for another employer. If the relationship between the employee and the employer is not in good terms, then there is a high possibility that the current employer will refuse to release the employee. If Ellen cannot find another job and leaves the country, her husband might also need to leave his current job and find an alternative solution for both of them. 3. Proposed solution We recommend that Ellen remain in her current position until other work opportunities arise for her. According to Hofstede (1993), Ellen possess low Power Distance (PD) trait that influences her desire for reaching the equality for both men and women in work and life. Staying in the same position and not accepting the Customer Service position will work better for her by keeping her values and refusing to accept the gender discrimination. Moreover, this option allows Ellen to express her strong interest in sharpening her financial expertise while possibly retaining good relationship with the supervisor. As Ellen came to Bahrain with the aim to train Bahrainis to take over her job this option would still facilitate her aspiration. Thus, staying in the company can give her more time to think and search for other alternatives and career prospects. According to Al-Lamky (2007), unequal policies, structures and programs in the organization that may obstruct womens employment and career growth, he mentioned that the best way to solve gender issues should involved policy and structure change in the organization. By remaining in her current position, Ellen could lobby some policy evaluation in the organization, continue advocate equal gender rights for women, some examples that she may like to lobby: implementing programs to increase sensitivity towards women; through work recognition and promotion to make top women visible in the organization; creating an organizational culture that is open and sensitive to differing styles in the workplace (San Dico Kleiner, 1999). Child care could also be an interesting program to be developed as it would be an auxiliary in helping women to perform the cultural responsibilities attributed to them (Al-Lamky 2007). With the power that she already had in the company and the help of her current fem ale employees, there is a great chance that she could win in this lobby battle. 4. Emic-concept and its influence in the decision making Aiming to investigate elements of the Bahrain culture that are relevant to the management field, we considered the Emic Concept in this case study is the gender discrimination. Throughout the case, the gender discrimination was highly observed in the workplace, Bahrain had difficulties accepting and acknowledging the contributions of women to management. In Ellens story, she suffered discrimination for being a woman in many situations. One of them that we have mentioned above was the career decision that Ellen had to choose, her general manager told her that the offer had been reconsidered because she was a woman and as such, would face difficulties executing the job. Such difficulties included women face discriminatory practices in Saudi Arabia and customers refusing to negotiate with her. Although she had the ability and qualification for the customer service position, she refused it because it was based on gender rather than competence. Another situation of gender discrimination in the workplace was in managing male employees. In the case, an employee named Fahad, would always refuse to listen to whatever Ellen had presented to him and he always disregarded Ellens ideas. However, with her continue effort she managed to resolve the problem and was able to perform with Fahad many successful projects. Because this case happened in 1980s, in your mind the gender discrimination situation would be better in this country in nowadays; however, if we looking at some statistics in recent years, you will realize that your judgment is too hasty. In 2006, women in Bahrain held only 9% of senior civil service posts although they constituted 11% of the private sector workforce and 42% of the government workforce (Asian Centre for Human Rights, 2007). It demonstrates that gender bias is still strong in the workplace, and women receive significantly low remuneration than their male counterparts, one of the reasons is the Arab societies are reluctant to abandon their traditional viewpoint of women, they thought that their primarily role should be in house and rise children (Mostafa 2005). However, things are not set in stone forever, some Arabic nations have seen considerable changes for women situation nowadays, According to Mostafa (2005), research on attitudes towards women roles â€Å"showed over the last two decades or so a universal trend of increasing liberalism and acceptance of more egalitarian role definitions, especially among women†. Women can be also found in positions such as ministerial and parliamentary positions, running businesses and siting as presidents in national universities, with increasingly figures in the work force and rising to managerial positions (Omair 2008). Given the facts learned from the case and recent researches just presented, the emic concept has influenced the process of decision making as the group understood that decision choosing to continue working in her current job would reflect less discriminatory practices. She would accept a position as customer service which was offered based on gender and, also, Ellen Moore would not be compromising her job and legal rights to remain Bahrain. 5. References Omair, K. (2008). Women in management in the Arab context. Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues. Vol. 1 No. 2. pp. 107-123. Al-Lamky, A. (2007) Feminizing leadership in Arab societies: the perspectives of Omani female leaders. Women in Management Review. Volume: 22. Issue:1 Asian Centre for Human Rights. (2007). Bahrain: Stakeholders Report, India. Hofsted, G. (1993). Cultural constraints in management theories. Academy of Management Executive. 7(1), 81-94. Metcalfe, B. D. (2007). Gender and human resource management in the Middle East. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18:1,54 -74, p.12,13 Mostafa , M. (2005). Attitudes towards women managers in the United Arab Emirates, Journal of Managerial Psychology. Vol. 20 No. 6, pp. 522-540. Sandico, C. and Kleiner, B. H. (1999). New development concerning gender discrimination in the work place. Equal Opportunities International. Volume 18 Number 2/3/4 .

To Kill a Mockingbird - The Powerful Character of Atticus Finch Essay

To Kill a Mockingbird - The Powerful Character of Atticus Finch In the beginning epigraph of To Kill a Mocking Bird, Harper Lee quotes a statement made by Charles Lamb: "Lawyers, I suppose, were children once." As told through the eyes of the rambunctious elementary school child, Scout Finch, we see not only how she and her brother's lives are affected by their community, also how they develop and mature under the watch of their father, lawyer Atticus Finch. As a wise role model to his town of Maycomb as well as his children, Atticus Finch becomes a prominently admirable character. As a father, lawyer, friend, and foe, Atticus Finch proves himself to be an honest, selfless, and courageous human being. Throughout many of the books main events, it is always clear that Atticus Finch holds true to his morals and beliefs despite all obstacles. After returning from reading to Mrs. Dubose, a morphine addict, with her brother, Jem, Scout asks her father, "Atticus, what exactly is a nigger-lover?" Having heard the term used many times referring to her father it is easy t...

The Violation of William Blakes Songs of Innocence Essay examples --

The Violation of Blake's Songs of Innocence      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Abstract: William Blake's Songs of Innocence contains a group of poetic works that the artist conceptualized as entering into a dialogue with each other and with the works in his companion work, Songs of Experience. He also saw each of the poems in Innocence as operating as part of an artistic whole creation that was encompassed by the poems and images on the plates he used to print these works. While Blake exercised a fanatical degree of control over his publications during his lifetime, after his death his poems became popular and were encountered without the contextual material that he intended to accompany them.    William Blake was probably more concerned than any other major Romantic author with the process of publication and its implications for the interpretation of his artistic creations. He paid a price for this degree of control over the process of printing, however: Blake lived in poverty and artistic obscurity throughout his entire life. Later, when his poems began to be distributed among a wider audience, they were frequently shorn of their original contexts. For William Blake, there has been a trade-off between the size of the audience he has reached and the degree of control he exerted over the publication process.    Blake was not satisfied merely to write poems and send them off to a publisher; instead, he designed illustrations to accompany his poems, engraved the poem-illustration works onto copper plates, printed the plates onto paper, and (when color was desired) colored the pages by hand, then bound the printed pages into volumes for sale. Blake was assisted in much of this work by his wife, Catherine, who had been illiterate when he ma... ...990. Hilton, Nelson. "William Blake, Songs of Innocence and of Experience" in The Blackwell Companion to Romanticism. Ed. Duncan Wu. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998. Online. Internet. 25 February 2000. Available http://virtual.park.uga.edu/~wblake/SONGS/begin/songs.html Hirsch, E. D., Jr. Innocence and Experience: An Introduction to Blake. Yale University Press: New Haven and London, 1964. Keynes, Sir Geoffrey. Introduction to William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. Ed. Geoffrey Keynes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967. Mason, Michael. Notes to William Blake: A Critical Edition of the Major Works. Ed. Michael Mason. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Stauffer, Andrew M. "The first known publication of Blake's poetry in America" in Notes and Queries v43, n1 (March, 1996): 41-43.

I Have A Dream Speech Essay

Throughout the speech, King frequently appeals to pathos, but he uses all three of the Aristotelian appeals effectively. He uses appeal to pathos to let his audience realize what type of condition the African Americans are in. He uses another appeal to logos to persuade the African Americans to take actions and also to use it for transitions. He also uses appeal to ethos to keep the readers and the audiences to be interested. According to King’s speech, he stated, â€Å"But one hundred years later, the Negro still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination†¦.And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.† This quote means that after one hundred years free from being slaved, African Americans were still not free through discrimination and segregation. That’s why hundreds of thousands of African Americans came at the Lincoln’s Memorial to dramatize these conditions. King uses anaphora on this quote to emphasize the repetition of the phrase at the beginning of the consecutive sentences to let the reader or the audience know what happened after ‘one hundred years.’In paragraph one to six, the purpose of this section was to introduce the information to the audience about what they needed to know. According to King’s speech, he stated, â€Å"†¦a great American†¦signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves†¦.. But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free†¦. We’ve come here to dramatize a shameful condition†¦. In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a bad check†¦.., that has come back marked as â€Å"insufficient funds†. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.† This quote means that the Emancipation Proclamation was the greatest hope for all African Americans to be free. But after one hundred years, they were given a ‘bad check’ because they were facing through many discriminations and segregations. In the second section, the purpose of it was to inform the African Americans what actions they should take and the avoidance in order to gain freedom. In the text, it says, â€Å"Let us not seek satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.† This quote means that the African Americans should not take actions with hatred and bitterness. Instead they should have dignity and discipline to gain freedom. In the third section, the purpose of this section was to describe  the changes and call to action. According in the speech, King stated, â€Å" I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi and other parts of the world that suffered through inequality and oppression, will change into freedom and injustice. King uses the writing framework because his speech has a beginning – an introduction, a middle – theme, opposition, and change, and an end – call to action.